Built 1917 by Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia for his wife Cecilie, Duchess of Mecklenburg, this Tudor revival style palace was also the place where these three jolly old guys met:

Churchill, Truman and Stalin at the Potsdam Conference

To honor the history and importance of this heritage, the hotel came up with the idea to create a special bread for the guests’ breakfast buffet: an ancient grain sourdough, with a lot of different grains and seeds.

Bread buffet at Schlosshotel Cecilienhof

Multigrain bread served at Schlosshotel Cecilienhof

To educate their guests, the hotel had placed a little brochure on the table, with informations about the bread: “Taste meets Tradition”, including a list of the ingredients:

Using an intermediate dough, like the Friesian Rye (thus eliminating the need for additional yeast,) and baking my loaf like Rhineland Rye seemed a good way to do it.

Rheinisches Schwarzbrot

I also omitted the vital wheat gluten, neither wanting to make quick process with my bread, nor being so anxious that I needed a “safety net”.

The bread turned out to be one of the best loaves I ever made, we absolutely LOVED it! Whether it was the complexity of the ingredients, or just an optimal process to develop and marry the different flavors I can’t say.

We had it with aged provolone cheese and blackforest ham, and it also tasted wonderful with honey.

Much as I enjoyed the original in its historic ambiance – my bread can at least hold a candle to it. The best of all husbands claims its even better (what a pity you can’t see my oh so modest smile!)

Here you see my baker’s formula in % (BreadStorm users can download it here)

It's hard to keep up with eating all the breads – my freezer is always overflowing. I saw the Pane Valle Maggia at Plötzblog, too (the crust of the original looks much darker, though). Sounds quite nice.

This one looks divine. I was introduced into the world of Vollkorn baking by Marla with her black hamster. But as you know I did not have nearly enough seeds to participate in your challenge, I still like your bread a lot and I will let this be my inspiration to bake a juicy multi-grain bread when I am back from holidays.

Thanks! If you like a similar bread, also very good, but with less and easier to get ingredients, check out my Friesisches Schwarzbrot post in The Fresh Loaf (see link in the post above). Schönen Urlaub!

Karen your version of the challenge bread looks perfect. I must give this technique a try. I am working on my post for my version this morning and will put a link to this post for others to see.Regards, Ian

Hi Karin,I so understand the way you feel about Volkorn having been force fed this bread when young. I had this memory of the taste it used to have that is way different than the wholewheat breads we are now able to bake ourselves. A true rediscovering because now I love different types of Volkorn.

My father used to say: “Schwarzbrot macht Wangen rot!” (Black bread makes the cheeks red), and we had it every evening. I hated it, and even Nutella (just coming on the market) didn't alleviate the pain…Thanks for visiting, Marieke

Welcome to Karin’s Bäckerei

I’d love to share with you my favorite recipes, from my native Germany, and my new home in Maine. Baking is my passion, especially breads. But, on the other hand: Life is uncertain – eat the dessert first!